Thursday, December 03, 2009

Orchestral Delights

Another slightly overdue post, this time featuring two heavyweight releases from the rather prolific TVO.

First up is his 'Rooks' 12" for Stuff, a two-tracker featuring a fresh mix of Afanc plus a new track Dots & Hashes. The original version of Afanc featured on the limited CDR given away with early copies of the Dark is Rising EP, although it's probably the 2562 remix on the aforementioned 12" that's the best known version to date. It's TVO on the remix duty this time round and he takes the track back to it's original techno structure but ups the pace a bit and delivers a constantly evolving version that sounds, in parts, not dissimilar to Aril Brikha's early works but finsihes in glitchy cinematic soundscape territory. Dots and Hashes is another constantly shifting affair but this time the haunting melodies and broken percussion kick off the proceedings before the track morphs into a full blown 4/4 workout around the halfway mark, throwing more ideas into a single track than the average minimalist manages in a whole EP and delivering a barrage of low-end party fun.

Moving onto 'The Starry Wisdom' on Highpoint Lowlife, opening track Akio Cut With Saffron carries on perfectly from where Dots & Hashes left off with another helping of old-school bass but this time underpinned by hypnotic percussion and a dark, Detroit-tinged undercurrent. Where Rooks had a broadly techno feel, Starry Wisdom leans more into electro and electronica territory although as ever with TVO's work he tends not to get stuck into any one particular camp for too long, so it's no surprise that so many influences are on display here. 'Akio' is probably my favourite track but the booty bass fun of Non-euclidian is also a particularly strong offering as is The king in Yellow. All in all, this is a very solid package and Highpoint's decision to put this out on vinyl after following a 'digital only' path for a while pays testament to the quality of the goods on offer here.

Before I go, one final thing to mention is TVO's recent mix for Fact magazine. Sure, I'm going to be a little enthusiastic about this one as it happens to feature one of my own productions, but putting that aside, this is a seriously killer mix, taking in all manner of electronic delights and exhibiting the vast influences and creativity that can be heard in Ruaridh's own work but also showing that he can cut it with the best of them behind the DJ booth too. Check it out here.

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